Man can not protest by social media alone.

In PR it is our role to communicate with the public. It is also our job to understand how the public communicate with each other. Because of this it is in disputable that the public sphere is important. It is not our job to argue the power of the public sphere but instead analyzing the extent of its power, and whose hands this power lies in.

My mum is not one to worship or even agree with many celebrity statements, there is one message however they both constantly stress. Don't believe everything you read. Not only are uninformed people going online and preaching, but other uniformed people are listening. The internet can be a great information provider of information but often only from legitimate offline sources. For example, Google Scholar can be great source but only as the journals etc are legitimized by sources offline such as publishing houses or universities. The same theory applies for BBC news and The Telegraph online, we believe them as they are legitimate in the "real" non-virtual world. We read online reviews but we trust our friends and family more. There has been a rise in online dating, but many argue its a last resort when the "real world" has let us down. More and more texts are being written on Digital Communications and the introduction of this topic to Bournemouth's PR course shows its increasing importance. As young practitioners it is vital for us to understand the digital, however we must understand that an online campaign is not the answer to all our PR problems.

The public sphere can be a great opportunity for voicing your opinion. But in a community where everyone is shouting their point how can you get heard. This weeks lecture on the public sphere used the example of band "Rage Against the Machine" reaching christmas number 1 in 2009 due to a facebook campaign. I argue however that its success started with a Facebook campaign but was legitimized and discussed through offline platforms which ultimately cemented its success, this is shown by the screen shot below which shows Facebook as a top Google hit followed by The Independant, The Guardian and NME. Showing that people searched else where for the story, most possibly to legitimize it.

With this in mind however the public sphere could be described as the peoples media. Through trending people are now dictating what they want to know which captures the medias attention. So when informed people to take to the internet and generate interest from other informed people or alternatively the masses we see the power of the public sphere take control as it enters the offline world.

When offline issues such as difficulties in Libya go viral, people have the opportunity to obtain information and agree/disagree with the those who are trying to protest virally. Years ago activists wrote their views on banners and buildings, now they can create a Facebook page or a Twitter account.  Its communicating a message, not creating it. The issues in Libya existed offline and were simply typed into an accessible and fast moving tool, in this case Facebook. Following government interference however the activists had to leave Facebook and code message via a dating site. The issue and the activism existed before and after Facebook, Soical media was just a stepping stone. A tool to communicate real issues and real actions. Thus its importance must be noted but not over exaggerated or depended upon. Man can not protest effectively by social media alone.